SociOS - digital platform for collaborative writing and open peer-review

• Applicant: Dr. Hubertus Neuhausen
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; Criminology ; Political Science ; Sociological Theory
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508986968

The main objective of the project is to establish a peer-reviewed writing and publication platform for the social sciences. The platform is planned to facilitate the publication of research results in various publication formats in open access. In addition, a concept for a novel approach of peer-review of digital publications (Open Peer Review) will be implemented in the context of the sociological community. For the realization of the project, relevant techniques and procedures for collaborative writing and open interactive peer review will be used. Essentially, the project aims to provide low-threshold Open Access publishing opportunities and, most importantly, to bring more transparency, flexibility and accountability to the review process and to provide stronger incentives for peer review. The application and implementation of the project will be carried out by the Cologne University Library, but the platform is open to publications from the entire social science field. It is intended to link the platform to the portals of the social science subject information services (FID Sociology - SocioHub, FID Political Science - POLLUX, FID Social and Cultural Anthropology - EVIFA and FID Criminology). All mentioned FIDs have expressed their interest in a cooperation. Since the concept and the technical infrastructure can in principle also be used by the FIDs of other disciplines, it can be assumed that the profiling effect will have an impact on scientific communication in the broadest sense. In addition, it can be assumed that opening up and transparency will improve the transfer of knowledge to society, the economy and politics as a whole. The project promotes the implementation of the Open Access transformation in a way that is appropriate for science and is submitted to the funding program "Infrastructures for Scientific Publishing" in the priority areas "Open Access Infrastructure" and "Digital Publishing".

• DFG Programme: Science Communication, Research Data, eResearch (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigator: Ralf Depping